Opinion | Features

Enough with the cooking shows already says media trading director Sam Tedesco. The market saturation is not doing anything positive for the ratings.
Like most members of the Australian TV viewing audience, I love a good cooking show. Right now, though, I need a break from high-pressure personality-driven food formats.

In this opinion piece Kevin Fitzsimons argues SBS documentary Go Back to Where You Came From demonstrates how people will accept ideas more readily when they are shown them.
‘People don’t do conceptual,’ was one of the best pieces of advice I received early on in my marketing career.
It took a while for me to grasp the value of the advice and even longer to apply it.

Australia's biggest supermarket is struggling. Steve Jones spoke to industry experts about how Woolworths' marketing strategy has faltered, and whether the brand can revive its fortunes.
When Woolworths chief executive Grant O’Brien fell on his sword last month after another disappointing set of quarterly figures, it surprised no one.
Without a chief marketer following the abrupt dismissal of Tony Phillips – and with several other high profile executives exiting stage left in recent months – it was just another in a long line of senior level departures at the embattled supermarket.

Media commentators not condemning the booing of AFL star Adam Goodes are effectively condoning bullying argues Adam Ferrier.
I have always admired Adam Goodes. Dual Brownlow medallist, premiership player, Australian of the Year, continued good work for indigenous people. He certainly deserves respect. Don’t know if I like him or not though, never met the guy.
However, Alan Jones commented on the issue recently and said the reason Goodes is getting booed is just that, ‘Because they just don’t like the fellow’.
What a damaging thing to say, and surely it’s not as simple as that?

After recently switching to ING Direct Ian Sizer says the current ad campaign for the online bank is seriously making him consider switching back.
When you get an ad appearing every single ad break it can be irritating. Some ads though go way beyond irritating and become so infuriating it can totally bugger up your evening.
That’s what happened to me last weekend when my viewing was interrupted on a regular basis by the latest offering from ING Direct.

While storytelling has become one of adland's biggest buzzwords Rob Lowe argues marketers are failing to make the necessary emotional connections.
I remember first hearing people talk about ‘storytelling’ a few years ago. I never quite understood it then and I still don’t fully understand the term now.
In fact, like many others, I think it’s overused marketing jazz.

Ahead of the launch of Seven's new reality format Restaurant Revolution tonightAngely Grecia crunches the numbers to see what sort of a buzz the show is creating on Twitter.
The Restaurant Revolution - the new foodie reality TV-show that sees ordinary Aussies designing and running their own pop-up restaurant to win a grand prize of $200,000 - is alive and well on social media.

Despite all the hype the news dinosaurs still dominate the plains of online news in Australia argues The New Daily editorial director Bruce Guthrie in an address to the Rural Press Club.
One way or another, as a journalist and editor, I’ve had a front-row seat at the migration of news from print to online over the past 20 years. And whenever I reflect on that sometimes painful, often clumsy process I am reminded of the joke about the man who walks into a bar with a frog sitting on his head.

In this opinion piece Mumbrella's Alex Hayes argues Lexus' new Heartbeat Car stunt will not raise the pulses of ordinary punters.
I have to admit the new 'world first' Lexus 'Heatbeat Car' leaves me cold.
It comes across as technology for technology's sake - they could have achieved the same results with CGI.

In this guest post, Shabaz Hussain wonders what a posh British drink’s surprise social media win at Wimbledon says about sports sponsorship for brands.
According to a recent Brand Intelligence Report from Amobee the brand most associated with The Championships at Wimbledon in 2015 across social and digital is Pimm’s – a traditional cocktail drink that spectators enjoy at the event.
What makes this more interesting is that fact that they were not an official sponsor of The Championships.

With more than $200m of business in play in Australia due to global pitches. But David Angell asks whether swapping partners will achieve much for these multinationals.
Do you watch soap operas? Of course you don’t, you’re all busy executives with crippling workloads.
But I bet most of you can remember them from younger days.

While some of the figures in the latest RECMA rankings are questionable Nic Christensen argues they still provide an interesting insight on the state of the media industry.
There's something about the RECMA numbers that just does not make sense. But when you ask a bunch of agencies to tell you how much they spend every year you're likely to get some very interesting results.
But despite the inconsistencies they are still the best map of media agencyland, are provide insights around the challenges of staff churn, the rise of programmatic and the broader challenge of falling client spend which are actually quite telling.

The way that blogger and influencer outreach is currently being executed is fast becoming unsustainable, and the industry should be worried argues Louisa Claire
When bloggers began sharing the brands they loved and used in their everyday lives, readers found their endorsement authentic and relatable; it came from someone “just like them”. Research found such backing from “real people” was more successful in swaying purchasing decisions than celebrity endorsements, and marketers opened their eyes to a massive opportunity to leverage bloggers’ voices.
The concept of blogger outreach was born.

Howzat tops 2m for Nine

Southern Star’s high quality retelling of Kerry Packer’s creation of World Series Cricket stormed to ratings of 2.097m on Sunday night.

Howzat! Kerry Packer’s War – telling how the late Nine owner shook up the sporting establishment – was the most watched show of Sunday by a long way, according to preliminary overnight metro ratings from OzTam.

Nine’s Big Brother performed solidly with an audience of 1.365m for its first live episode.

Ten’s series final of MasterChef All Stars rated 1.05m for the winner announcement, while the rest of the show averaged 802,000.

However, there now seems to be little hope for Ten’s Everybody Dance Now after the first shortened, reworked episode of the dance contest rated just 385,000.

I really enjoyed every aspect of Howzat, that’s exactly the kind of stuff I want to watch on Sunday evening..

paul
20 Aug 12
10:43 am

HOWZAT great show & insight into what most of us took for granted.
Interesting how much they pushed the eating aspect tho…

Kernil
20 Aug 12
10:54 am

What a fantastic show – can’t wait for next week and more from Southern Star/Nine

Matt
20 Aug 12
10:54 am

Great Aussie drama. Cannot wait for part 2 next week!

The Grim Reaper
20 Aug 12
11:02 am

Nice to see the costume department at Nine being efficient in rehashing the same looks for the original underbelly, the Ita buttrose thing & now this. How many Packer shows can Ch9 do?! They’ve obviously decided on a certain formula for their drama’s, & they’re certainly sticking to it. Good show, but lacking any real creativity/uniqueness

Ben
20 Aug 12
11:40 am

@Grim Reaper – the “Ita Buttrose” thing was on the ABC, and the original Underbelly was set in the last decade in Melbourne – hardly a rehashing of anything….

The only very minor critique? We worked out which one was Doug Walters, you didnt have to have a cigarette in his mouth in EVERY scene he was in. We get it, he smoked, done.

Jason
20 Aug 12
1:02 pm

As Kerry would have said: “it was a f–king great show.”

The Count
20 Aug 12
1:13 pm

Does anyone else see the irony with Howzat being a ratings blockbuster?

For decades Kerry Packer was a harsh and active opponent of Australian drama – only screening the bare minimum as required by the regulators, often in unimportant timeslots and with “plan to fail” budgets, development and production schedules etc.

He was happy for Seven to be the home of drama, focussing instead on richly-resourced news and current affairs and, of course, sport.

Now he’s the central character of one of the biggest Australian drama smash hits of the year. It’s poetic!

Ben, the Ita show on the ABC was enjoyable, the show last night was not enjoyable (for me).

crizza
20 Aug 12
1:22 pm

Excellent show with some great actors, fun soundtrack and retro styling. Every show needs a hero so you can understand the need for a “strong but sensitive” KP. No Goanna references here. Reminiscent of Bodyline in resurrecting the old stereotype of brave, down-to-earth Aussies fighting the entrenched power system of Mother England. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) Was also interesting to bring back memories of one-camera cricket with half the coverage showing “the batsman’s arse”.

What do you know, good Aussie drama with great talent, scheduled well and promoted well – rates!
Good for them. Glad to see programming that isnt about a bunch of talentless bogans cooking, dancing, locked in house together, renovating house, singing, or largely doing stupid shit that no one with an IQ above 27 has any interested in seeing.
Will be watching next week.

Ben
20 Aug 12
1:57 pm

Um, OK Carole, good to hear….?

Georgie
20 Aug 12
1:59 pm

I tried to watch it after the Masterchef finale but fell asleep halfway. Too much “Kerry” barking at everyone, cba.

Well done to all involved – the recreation of the original WSC opening titles was a triumph! Shame about so many ad breaks – segments were getting down towards 6 minutes by the end, but that’s modern commercial television for you.

No doubt execs are pacing the floor today thinking of other Packer story lines. His selling the network to Alan Bond and then buying it back for a song would be a ripper!

How can they get away with all the smoking in the show? Surely that should be banned.

Diane
20 Aug 12
3:48 pm

Seems the cast of Offspring can’t put a foot wrong.

Ben
20 Aug 12
4:43 pm

Yeah, your’e right Carole. And the swearing. And the cricket. Let’s not make a true life drama anything like the real thing

Insider
20 Aug 12
4:50 pm

Great stuff.one of the most outstanding Dramas on TV. Loved it. Pity it’s only two episodes. Well done Nine!

Daniel
20 Aug 12
5:41 pm

Jesus, Carole, what else did you want removed? Drinking beer? Girls in bikinis by the pool? Grow up! It’s not the 1950s anymore in Peyton Place!

nat
20 Aug 12
7:51 pm

Carole you seem to be outnumbered.Let the boys have their fun. It was a blokey program anyway.

nat
20 Aug 12
7:54 pm

I am watching X Factor as I write this. Will be interesting to see how it rates. Lots of young great talent on show. Surely people will prefer this over some smoking, cursing drama??? But then again-maybe not.

Devlin
21 Aug 12
10:11 am

Carole, it’s set in the ’70s, FFS. People smoked back then. Packer swore, but he was a revolutionary. It’s a story well worth retelling. And it’s not just about cricket, either. Two million-plus viewers can’t be wrong. You, on the other hand, are. Best Australian production since Chopper – I bet you hated that too? Go back to your safe, conservative little encasing.

carole goldsmith
21 Aug 12
1:18 pm

Devlin, I bet you work in your safe little world and office in Sydney or somewhere and never venture out.

I work across Japan, China, Kore and Vietnam – You take the challenge and get out of your own little box and learn from the world instead of watching shows with swearing and smoking from 40 years ago and critisising others who have better things to do with their time. .

awesome
21 Aug 12
1:40 pm

@Carole….you obviously have nothing better to do than troll

Will
22 Aug 12
11:32 am

@Carole: I fail to see how working across Asia has anything to do with the argument that you’re a conservative troll who can’t appreciate a seriously good Australian period piece. What other motive would you have to get on here and say how it ‘bored’ and ‘offended’ you (they smoke AND swear, ohmygosh), other than to disagree for disagreement’s sake, or attempt to piss people off? Now, get your self-important ass back to Vietnam and stay there.

RatsRepus
22 Aug 12
12:12 pm

So what’s next. I reckon Centre bet could have book running.. I would put Money on

“Plastic Fantastic. Allan Bonds Cup” Bought to you by Mastercard”
“Marbella and Bust. The Christopher Skase story bought to You by Wikileaks”

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